


Language Barriers

by TheQueen



Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood Friends, Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 22:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16146647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueen/pseuds/TheQueen
Summary: In a world where T’Chaka honors his brother in death, this is how T’Challa and Erik meet.





	1. Chapter 1

They come home barring a body for burial. T’Challa waits at the end of the landing strip, gripping the edge of his mother’s skirt with a white-knuckled grip, eyes wide as he takes in the site of the floating gurney and the ghostly white cloth covering its face. 

The people, the Dora Milaje, W’kabi all kneel with their hands over their chests. His mother bows her head solemnly. T’Challa stares with bright eyes.

Perhaps that is why he is the first one to notice the child.

.

The funeral is arranged quickly, barely suitable for a prince (far too kind for a traitor, some dare to whisper within earshot of the royal family). It is a solemn affair. The body is laid out in the courtyard where people come to lay gifts of flowers and food. A cat the size of T’Challa’s arm lays its body against the altar. 

His people whisper as T’Challa tracks the boy through the crowd. He looks lost despite his firm hold onto Uncle Zuri’s hand, overwhelmed. In the same way T’Challa finds him strange with his clothes and his silence, T’Challa realizes he must find this all very strange to. 

T’Challa knows little about the outside world. N’Jadaka must know less about Wakanda. 

So with a stern resolve, he lets go of his mother’s skirt and steps away from his father’s shadow to weave through the legs of mourners until he finds N’Jadaka half hidden behind a tree, chest heaving. 

T’Challa frowns, fighting for the right words, the right first impression. 

“You gonna just stand there like a fish?” N’Jadaka snaps, sudden and harsh. T’Challa jerks, mouth popping open to stare down at his new cousin. “Well?”

“My english is not good,” T’Challa licks his lips, nervous. He bows his head and says in a speech more familiar: “ _ I am sorry for your lose _ .”

N’Jadaka says nothing for a moment and T’Challa dares to raise his head it takes T’Challa far too long to realize he’s crying.

.

When his mother finds them, far past sunset, they are curled up together on the roots of the large acacia, tear marks dried into their skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a larger fic which would cover their childhood and the eventual opening of Wakanda to the outside world, but I don't have the time to finish it and I really enjoyed this portion of the story. 
> 
> Please let me know what you thought! :D
> 
> PS: The next chapter is my favorite excerpts from the story I couldn't finish


	2. Chapter 2

PS: Here are a few other sections from the story I was supposed to write, but then didn't!   
  


**(Right after the previous chapter)**

The next morning T’Challa watches N’Jadaka struggle to turn on the taps in their shared bathroom as he brushes his teeth. He’s not sure what to do.

N’Jadaka is his cousin. He knows he has (had) an Uncle, a war dog serving his country bravely in the outside world, in America. America… T’Challa has never thought much of the country. He hasn’t gotten to the era of Colonialism yet in his history courses and whenever his Baba speaks of the country it is with dismissal or irritation. But America is now the birthplace of one of his family.

Strange.

T’Challa teaches him how to turn on the taps.

.

W’kabi decides after five minutes of mostly silence (T’Challa has a sinking feeling it is his fault; he just does not yet know how to speak to his cousin) that N’Jadaka is “good.”

“How’d you decide that?” N’Jadaka asks, in nearly perfect Wakandan. T’Challa’s own English is a work in progress. He feels, momentarily jealous and then in awe that N’Jadaka can already speak two languages. As a prince he feels he should be better.

“You have a good face,” W’kabi explains as if it is obvious. “Very honest.”

N’Jadaka frowns as if to disagree, but T’Challa finds it easier to change the subject.

 

**(Two months after Erik has started to live in Wakanda. Everyone refers to him as N’Jadaka despite his wishes and this is the first time he's felt comfortable telling someone.)**

“My name is Erik,” N’Jadaka whispers as they climb into bed.

“Erik,” T’Challa repeats like a grave secret.

“Not N’Jadaka,” N'- Erik says. “My name is Erik.

**(The day before his father is leaving for a trip to Europe to discuss matters at the UN when they are still children:** ) 

Sometimes T’Challa wonders what his relationship with his father would be if he had never learned what he’d done. He wonders if he could have loved his father more if his father was a liar instead of a murderer.

He wonders, but ultimately it is meaningless.  


End file.
